I'd like to do the Presidential Traverse this winter. Has anyone been there, done that?

Yep. Waaaayy BITD. What do you want to know?

Much fun. More daylight if you wait until March.

Yep. Worth doing.

I'm planning on doing it in early March. My biggest question is, what kind of shape do I need to be in to complete it, and what should I be doing training wise to get there?

I'm really looking forward to it, I want to start doing more alpine type climbs/trips.

Thanks J

This would be a great trip to pull off but has a lot of challenges. I have done the full traverse in summer in great weather. Of course you can risk exposure to bad weather and zero visibility any time of the year. From trip reports I have read, having a party of at least two, bivy gear, stove, a bailout car, snowshoes AND crampons, are recommended.
I have read that some skirt some or all the summits if it is especially cold, windy or just taking too long.
I would recommend doing it in summer/fall first to get familiar with the lay of the land and the various trail junctions and approaches.
Get into good hiking shape carrying a medium heavy pack - winter survival gear can add a lot of weight. Of course, a lighter pack means one can travel faster to get through a hike, but if something goes wrong that survival gear will be worth more than its weight in cams.

Some approach it as a more casual trip with 2 or 3 nights out and carrying full winter camping gear. A bit more kamikazi is to plan on night travel to stay warm and take naps in the sun as needed. Either way, you need gear to sit out the worst possible weather if you get hurt. Travel on snowshoes/crampons will go much slower than summer so likely a couple days at best.

The more training the better. Endurance will be key.

Be be familiar with:
hiking on icy rocky rough trail
hiking in very poor conditions - huge winds and windchills
breaking trail in deep snow in snowshoes
navigation in whiteout conditions
all of the above simultaneously with a big pack

Build yourself a couple of trips to create as much of the above as you can. Find some long exposed hikes and go do them in December and January when they are cold and dark and have some snow/ice cover. Try navigating your way across somewhere you won't get hurt in the dark with a map and compass without taking off your mittens. etc.
Also consider just trying to summit Mt Wash as a first step day trip. That will give you a good sense of what to expect.

If you're not already aware of it, Marc Chauvin has an excellent winter Presi Traverse guide on his site. Pretty much everything you need to know. He even includes the vectors and coords of the escape routes (which you should have several waterproof copies of distributed among your party).

I did it in 1975 in a party of 5 (4 is the recommended minimum), so lightweight, warm gear didn't really exist (this was before polyester fleece was available), esp. on a college student's budget. Our packs were around 65 - 70 lbs. We planned for 3-4 nights out, going north to south, up the Airline trail and out over Webster to Crawford Notch. We took food for 8 days, and, because of being pinned down by two storms, did it in 7 days. We spent 36 hrs in the (no longer there) Edmunds Col shelter. Winds on Washington hit 150mph during that storm. Because of yet another storm approaching, we bypassed staying at Lake of the Clouds hut and went from Edmunds Col to Mizpah Springs hut in one long, grueling day. We went over every summit.

One other tip: if you haven't done a lot of hiking wearing crampons, make sure you practice...before you lacerate one of your legs a day or more from help. Practice with snowshoes as well if you lack the skills, especially going up steep terrain. Step kicking with snowshoes is a learned skill. Assuming a normal winter, you will hike many miles in both crampons and snowshoes. Also, know how to self arrest - you will cross several snowfields where, if firm, a fall and slide could have very unpleasant consequences. Some of these have avi potential as well, so know the warning signs, triggers, and safe travel protocol.

You might want to rethink March if possible - it's the month with the greatest number of days of winds over 100mph. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot hike (and make reasonable progress) in much more than 55mph winds. Also, people tend to seriously overestimate wind speed. So when someone tells you about the time they hiked Washington in 75mph winds, you can safely assume it was actually blowing at about 40mph.

Make sure you understand food requirements. It actually gets difficult to eat the number of calories/day needed to stay warm and fuel the amount of physical labor. 5000 cal/day is not an unusual requirement.

Thank you all for your insight. I hopefullly will be posting a trip report here next March.
j